Embracing Life — Day 35

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Embracing Life -- Day 35

Chandra White-Cummings

Day 35: Unity for Life

What would be sufficient motivation to compel you to intentionally cultivate a relationship with someone of a different ethnicity, different denomination, different church, different marital status, socioeconomic status, etc.? Would you do it to feed the poor in your city? Would you do it to give an abandoned child a loving home? Would the prospect of having a marriage others only dream of be enough? What about bringing revival to a country? Carmen Pate suggests saving children in the womb should motivate us all.

I’m so into unity. Sometimes when I speak to a group, I have a hard time getting to my planned message because I spend time exhorting them to unity. It bothers me that I don’t think I could go into most of the churches in my community without experiencing some serious looks and major discomfort. But should that stop me? I happen to attend a very integrated church, but even we have a ways to go before we reach true unity. Integration is a baby step towards Biblical unity. A necessary step on the path, but it doesn’t get you all the way home. My church is 25 minutes from where I live. The churches in my immediate vicinity are … not integrated. Very bothersome.

My son’s father is biracial. I sometimes forget that fact because there’s not a lot of contact with that side of his family. But every time I hear my son make those high-pitched rock music sounds, or play his rock band air guitar, I have to smile because it reminds me that there is more than one way to be Black. And there’s more than one way to worship, to pray, and to be pro-life. There should be room for all of it.

Pro-lifers have plenty of variety in method and approach. You have the sign carriers, the graphic-photo truck drivers, the press conference holders, the silent vigil candle carriers, the debate circuit intellectuals, the philosophical ethicists, the tense and angry moralists, and even some atheists. No matter the bent of the advocate, what touches people the most is when they see Christians who they know have outward differences but are able to work together. I think it’s because they know there has to be something other than commonality of cause at work to make those with such disparate alliances get on one accord.

That’s one of the main reasons I don’t tend toward group alliances and allegiances. It’s a lot easier to accept other people when I’m not trying to tow some party line. All of that stuff is too often a trap and a snare both to those within and without the group circle. I am loyal to Christ as I see Him revealed to me in the Scriptures. He’s the only one who deserves unqualified devotion. If we Christians rally around Him, we’ll find ourselves in one big Love circle, standing shoulder to shoulder alongside people of different colors, persuasions, and ilk, all praying, strategizing, and hoping for an end to an atrocity that breaks His heart and ours.

Find out more at the 40 Days for Life website.

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